Indian government's many initiatives ride on technological support

Newer governmental schemes like Aadhaar, Demonetisation and Goods and Services tax has propelled digital drive in India, although its total reach can be gauged in coming few years.Taslima Khan | ET Bureau | May 16, 2017, 10:25 IST

Multiple initiatives such as demonetisation, plan to unveil the Goods and Services Tax and adoption of Aadhaar for various government services and schemes have boosted the Digital India drive. Some other initiatives over the next two years could take the digital push to new heights.

Nationl Optical Fibre Network

As of May 7, equipment for the network has been installed at 18,699 gram panchayats, show data available on the website of Bharat Broadband Network Ltd. The government has missed deadlines to install the network equipment across about 250,000 gram panchayats.

An official who declined to be identified estimated that the work would be completed in the next two years. “There are lots of gaps in government programmes where more systematic private sector participation should be called in, especially for scaling up quickly,” said R Chandrasekhar, president, Nasscom.

Open Data

One of the biggest expectations from the Digital India project is for the government to disclose information more proactively through technology.

Improving efficiencies

Entrepreneurs scouting for opportunities in healthcare delivery, financial services, education and other areas that can enable digital adoption and inclusiveness say steps are needed to eliminate supply chains to bring in more transparency and efficiency.

This should be done also to empower the underserved population though new technologies, and improving access to information will be a key driver going forward, they said.